Rangers select Malcolm Spence No. 43 overall in 2025 NHL Draft
At The Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Saturday, the New York Rangers selected Erie Otters forward Malcom Spence with the 43rd overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.
Spence, 18, is coming off a 2024-25 campaign where he scored 32 goals and 41 assists for 73 points and 57 penalty minutes in 65 regular-season games. Selected with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2022 OHL Priority Selection Draft, Spencer has 67 goals and 110 assists for 177 points and 97 penalty minutes in 195 career regular-season games in three junior seasons.
The Mississauga, Ont., native also has five goals and eight assists for 13 points and eight penalty minutes in 15 career OHL playoff games.
After the NCAA announced that CHL players could play U.S.-based college hockey starting in 2025-26, Spence became the first big name to declare, announcing in May his commitment to the University of Michigan.
Steven Ellis, Daily Faceoff’s prospect analyst, wrote in his final 2025 NHL Draft rankings that while Spence may not be a top-six NHL player, he will be someone “you can assign a job to do and he’ll get it done.”
“(Spence) isn’t flashy, but he’s a hard worker who loves hitting everyone he can and getting anyone off their game,” Ellis wrote, adding that he’s a versatile player, “although not necessarily a top-six play-driver.”
In a tournament where goal differential matters, Ryder Ritchie makes it 8-3. His second goal, but look at how Malcolm Spence (2025) fought off the Slovak defender. #HlinkaGretzkyCup pic.twitter.com/IAwanK0mcX
— Steven Ellis (@SEllisHockey) August 1, 2023
Internationally, Spence has represented Canada on several occasions. At the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, he scored two goals and three assists for five points in five games.
At the 2024 Under-18 World Championship, Spence also helped Canada win gold, scoring three goals and four assists for seven points and 22 penalty minutes in seven games.
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